US detains British commentator Milo Yiannopoulos for immigration violation, plans deportation

US authorities have detained right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos and plan to deport him, the Department of Homeland Security said on Friday.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested the British provocateur at New Orleans International Airport on Thursday for overstaying in the US, the department said, describing him as an "illegal alien from the United Kingdom."

"Yiannopoulos was issued a final order of removal by an Immigration Judge on July 22, after failing to show up for his immigration hearing," the agency said. "He will remain in ICE custody pending removal."

ICE directed family and legal representatives to contact the agency’s office in Alexandria, Louisiana, which serves as a deportation hub for international flights.

Far-right activist Laura Loomer, who routinely takes credit for action against those who have fallen out with the US president, posted about the incident shortly after.

"I was the first person to report on the fact that Milo was in the US illegally where he incited violence against President Trump and worked for Marjorie Traitor Greene," Loomer wrote on X, referring to the former US congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene who stepped down after a feud with Trump.

Loomer went on to say that she "reported him to ICE and the FBI."

Yiannopoulos previously supported ICE

Once a Donald Trump supporter and advocate of the president's immigration crackdown, Yiannopoulos has since fallen out with the Trump movement.

Yiannopoulos first gained notoriety in the early 2010s as a writer for the right-wing website Breitbart News, where he played a key role in the "Gamergate" anti-feminist harassment campaign.

He resigned from Breitbart in 2017 after a video of him appearing to condone pedophilia resurfaced online. He later apologized for the remarks.

Yiannopoulos has continued to espouse far-right views, including calling for a stop to immigration and mass deportations.

As recently as June last year, he said California "needs ICE checkpoints at supermarket entrances, gas stations, strip malls, intersections ​and government buildings, with on the ⁠spot deportation for anyone who can't prove they are in the US legally."

Celebrity news website TMZ suggested that Yiannopoulos may have been in New Orleans ahead of a scheduled performance by Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. Yiannopoulos has worked for Ye in various capacities, first as part of his aborted 2024 presidential campaign, followed by a brief stint at fashion label Yeezy, and most recently as a personal spokesperson.

Edited by: Sean Sinico